Bradford Park Avenue 1 Wakefield 0

Avenue were made to toil for the spoils against struggling Wakefield but they took all three points and, in doing so, showed a determination and resilience that has been absent in recent seasons.

It could never be construed as a classic - in fact, the 181 fans who drifted through the turnstiles would have had a case had they demanded a refund.

That was due in part to the attitude Wakefield came with and the poor handling of the game by the officials.

But Avenue boss Phil Sharpe said: "No-one will remember that in a fortnight.

"It had the edge of a derby, the opposition were looking to kick-start their season and we had several regulars missing.

"We didn't play at all well. We had spent the week working on our passing game and set-pieces but when I looked at the way we had played, I wondered why? We could have used the training sessions up by just doing laps around the track."

A little sympathy should be reserved for Avenue's players, with three making their club debuts and one making his third debut.

Goalkeeper Piotr Skiba, who turned up at Horsfall Stadium following a trial with Leeds after arriving from Poland, striker Lee Morris and forward David Cooke were starting their first league games.

Midfielder Neil Grayston, who arrived from UniBond Premier Division neighbours Guiseley along with Cooke in midweek, had already enjoyed two spells with Avenue.

They all settled in well early on and had good games.

The biggest problem facing Skiba was holding his concentration, as he was so well protected, he could have nodded off.

The defence was bereft of Avenue skipper Lee Connor, who has been one of the most consistent players. He was one of four men unavailable but Gary Shaw was back to his best and emergency centre back Neil Redfearn partnered him.

Two of the new signings combined to have the ball in the net in the fourth minute. Cooke stole possession before passing to Morris, who fired in, but the linesman's flag ended the celebrations.

The only goal came in the 11th minute when Jeremy Illing-worth broke into Wakefield's area, cut the ball back to Andy Lee and his header across the area was met by Liam Flynn.